Meas Kheng

{{short description|Cambodian athlete (born 1946)}}

{{use dmy dates|date=July 2017}}

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| nationality = Cambodian

| sport = Sprinting

| event = 100 metres

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| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1946|3|28|df=yes}}

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Meas Kheng (born 28 March 1946) is a Cambodian sprinter who made history as the first woman to represent Cambodia at the Olympics.{{cite web |title=First female competitors at the Olympics by country |url=https://www.olympedia.org/lists/99/manual |accessdate=14 June 2020 |work=Olympedia}}She competed in the women's 100 metres at the 1972 Summer Olympics.{{cite Sports-Reference |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/me/meas-kheng-1.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200418111348/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/me/meas-kheng-1.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=18 April 2020 |title=Meas Kheng Olympic Results |accessdate=2 July 2017}}

She was dubbed the "sprint queen" of Southeast Asia, in the early 1970s.{{cite web|url=http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/straitstimes19730827-1.2.95|title=Meas Bids For Three Golds|publisher=The Straits Times|date=August 27, 1973}}

At just seventeen, Kheng reached the finals of the 400 metres at the 1963 GANEFO Games in Jakarta. Her recorded time of 62.1 seconds still stands as the Cambodian junior record.{{cite web |url=http://www.rfea.es/competi/2012WJCbarcelona/PDF/records_nacionales.pdf |title=National Junior Records |accessdate=12 August 2019}}

On July 19, 1968, in Phnom Penh, Meas Kheng clocked 12.0 seconds to set the current Cambodian 100-metre hand-timed record, which remains unbroken to this day.{{cite web|url=http://basilrcaldero.over-blog.com/pages/Asia---women-amp-sports-7093508.html |title=Asia - Women & Sports!|accessdate=12 August 2019}}

At the 1971 SEAP Games, Kheng clinched gold with a time of the 100 metres and in a national record of 25.05 seconds. Her 200-metre time of 25.1 seconds shaved 0.3 seconds off the previous championship record. In the 400 metres, she finished second behind Malaysia's Junaidah Aman, clocking 58.1 seconds.

Confusion surrounds about Kheng's best times, and little news about her had emerged.{{cite web|url=http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/newnation19730821-1.2.27.1|title=THE 'GOLDEN' HOPEFULS...|publisher=New Nation|date=August 21, 1973}} On the eve of the 1973 SEAP Games, reports stated that Kheng's season bests were 12.0 seconds over 100 metres, 25.4 seconds over 200 metres, and 54.3 seconds over 400 metres. But on the eve of the Games debut, the Khmer team's chef de mission emphasised his athletes' unpreparedness as a result of the ongoing civil war, and claimed Kheng's season bests as 12.6 seconds in the 100 metres, 25.1 seconds for the 200 metres, and 57.6 seconds for the 400 metres.{{cite web|url=http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/straitstimes19730829-1.2.96.2|title=Khmer bank their hopes on volleyball|publisher=The Straits Times|date=August 25, 1973}} Said Kheng: "I am very bad this time. No time for training. I fight in war."{{cite web|url=http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/newnation19730829-1.2.36.7|title=Khmers' target: Only 10 golds|publisher=New Nation|date=August 29, 1973}}Despite this, she arrived at the 1973 Southeast Asian Peninsular Games as the clear favourite, tipped for a gold-medal treble.{{cite web|url=http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/newnation19730825-1.2.33.1|title=Khmer athletes pose a threat|publisher=New Nation|date=August 25, 1973}} Unfortunately, she pulled a muscle during the 100-metre final and was forced to withdraw from the rest of the competition.{{cite web|url=http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/newnation19730904-1.2.39.4|title=Anxious wait...then joy for Chiew Guay|publisher=New Nation|date=September 4, 1973}}